Chastity and Faith (Week of 9/12/2010)

This week, Jim and I began our pre-marital counseling. Rather than the typical format, we've opted to participate in a Prayer experiment with a local pastor. Based on the study and resulting book "Prayer Can Change Your Life," by William Parker & Elaine St. Johns, the way our Prayer Therapy works is that each week, we have an individual telephone conference with our pastor and receive a specific topic to pray for, and a specific Bible reading/study. As the post title suggests, this week, my assignment is to pray for chastity ("the grace to remain chaste until our wedding night) and my Bible assignment is to find and memorize New Testament verses related to faith. The final part of the experiment is to record or journal about the process. We note what we pray for each week, enabling us to return to the original note once we begin to see specific prayers answered. This is where this blog comes in. While I feel a bit vulnerable recording this process in such a public forum, I'm hopeful that someone else will benefit from reading about the work God is going to do in my life through this.

I've been praying fairly earnestly about chastity for the last few days. Honestly it only seems to make sex MORE appealing and chastity LESS likely. Which I guess is the normal response when you're told you shouldn't or can't do something. The entire Fad Diet industry is based on this response. For me, I think the real challenge lies in us being appropriately affectionate with each other while trying not to make chastity even more difficult. This must be where the Faith part is important.

At first Chastity and Faith seemed rather unrelated. Just a couple days into the experiment, it's clear why they're paired this week. I know Jim loves me. I know he's attracted to me. But not being able to express it physically forces me to have Faith in him and in our relationship. Also, I have to have Faith in this process, that God really IS going to work through prayer, and change our relationship for the better. I have to trust the process, and trust that God does want an abundant life for us together.

I was tasked to memorize 3 or 4 verses on Faith this week. So far, I've selected one; Mark 11:22 - 24, which reads: "Have faith in God,"Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."


I'll keep searching and will update throughout the week.